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Three dead in shooting at Winnemucca bar

WINNEMUCCA -- Three men were fatally shot early Sunday, and two other people were injured, at a bar filled with about 300 people, and the shootings might have stemmed from a long-standing feud between several families, police said.

Winnemucca Police Chief Bob Davidson said a man entered Players Bar and Grill and fatally shot two members of a rival family before he was shot and killed by a patron.

All three were pronounced dead at the scene.

The dead shooter was identified as Ernesto Villagomez, 30, of Winnemucca. The other victims were identified as Jose Torres, 20, and his brother, Margarito Torres, 19, both of Winnemucca.

A 34-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman were listed in stable condition with gunshot wounds at the Winnemucca hospital. Their names were not released.

The shooting might have been in retaliation for an earlier drive-by shooting involving the families in Winnemucca, Davidson told Reno's KRNV-TV.

The 48-year-old patron from Reno who killed the shooter was taken into custody as a person of interest but was released after Humboldt County District Attorney Russell Smith determined the shooting was justifiable homicide.

The patron was in possession of a valid concealed-weapons permit issued by the Washoe County sheriff's office, Davidson said.

The shootings occurred during the town's annual Runnamucca motorcycle rally, but no evidence linked them to any rival motorcycle gangs or clubs, Davidson said.

The case remained under investigation. Winnemucca is a town of 8,000 about 160 miles northeast of Reno.